LAWYER IN THE NEWS

Who? David Mason, 45-year-old partner at 25-partner south London firm Capsticks.Why is he in the news? Represents various NHS bodies at the ongoing public enquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie, the eight-year-old girl who died after suffering horrific abuse at the hands of her aunt and her aunt's boyfriend.

The enquiry focuses on a catalogue of failures by social services, the Metropolitan Police and the hospitals involved in Victoria's protection, all of whom failed to spot that the girl was being abused by the couple.

They were both given life sentences for murder earlier this year.Background: Degree in experimental psychology at Oriel College, Oxford 1974-77, followed by a post-graduate diploma in law at City University in London.

He was called to the Bar in 1984, and in 1986 joined Kensington solicitors' firm Thomas Watts & Co.

He joined Capsticks in 1988 as a legal adviser, and qualified as a solicitor in 1990.

He was made partner on qualification.

Route to the case: 'The two NHS hospitals in question, Central Middlesex Hospital and North Middlesex Hospital, are long-standing clients of the firm, and the other bodies we represent - Haringey Primary Care Trust and Enfield and Harrow Health Authority - joined as a result.'Thoughts on the case: 'My background in psychology was almost more useful than my legal knowledge in this enquiry.

A large part of my work was taking witness statements from a lot of very traumatised staff who all blame themselves for what happened, and so I had to provide boxes of tissues and a lot of psychological support.

Even for a hard-boiled litigator like myself, this really is a horrible and upsetting story and as such is emotionally draining to work on.

In terms of aims, this enquiry isn't about defending the NHS - the NHS is upfront about having made mistakes and takes full responsibility - but about learning lessons, preventing such events from ever happening again, and making sure that Victoria's death wasn't totally in vain.'Dealing with the media: 'Most media has tended to focus on the Climbie family, represented by Imran Khan.

One of the joys of working for the NHS is that they employ professionals to speak to the media, so I have avoided that side of things.'Victoria MacCallum